Kelley Armstrong
Kelley Armstrong is married with three children and lives in rural Ontario, Canada.
After graduating from the University of Western Ontario with a degree in psychology, she moved on to study computer programming.
She is now a full-time writer and parent.

In this eighth installment of the Women of the Otherworld series, Kelley Armstrong brings to the forefront one
of the peripheral characters from some of her earlier work, Hope Adams. Hope is pressed into a service by Beneico Cortez the
ruthless head of the Cortez Cabal. Hope goes undercover as a disgruntled rich girl looking for fun with a gang of dangerous
supernaturals who have been giving the Cabals a bad time. While there, Hope, now called "Faith," becomes involved in more
than just the robberies the gang is perpetrating.

Hope is described as a tough tabloid reporter but this character never truly pulls it off. She floats through the story
seeming to await rescue. Being a half demon, she spends most of her time dealing with the idiosyncrasies of her
powers. These powers make her a liability to the situations she finds herself in, instead of the proactive character
she is supposed to be.

Karl Marsden, also mentioned in other Women for the Otherworld books, returns as Hope's former love interest to try and
save Hope from the mess she has gotten herself into. The relationship is presented in the past tense and makes the reader
feel as if they have missed something in the previous books in the series since no mention of this storyline in any detail
is ever mentioned.

Half of the story is devoted to Lucas Cortez, the illegitimate son of the powerful Cortez Cabal leader, Beneico. Lucas becomes
involved when Hope calls for assistance from Lucas and his wife, Paige, from
Dime Store Magic and Industrial Magic. By pulling
Lucas into the story, Ms. Armstrong gives the feeling of trying to make one book out of two. It leaves the impression that Hope
is not a strong enough character to carry the whole book. It does neatly move Lucas's character into a better position for
future storylines, but the book is advertised as the "Women" of the Otherworld.

The convoluted plot cooked up by the "real" bad guys is very entertaining but is only realized in said bad guy's monologue and
would make no sense if the reader hadn't read the other books in the series.

Laural Merlington, recipient of several Audiofile Earphone Awards, and Todd McLaren, voice actor heard in over 5,000 TV and
radio commercials, contribute to this audio presentation.

Ms. Merlington does a fair job but doesn't truly bring to mind the voice of a tough talking twenty-four-year-old. The choice
of using two actors to bring these characters to life seems a questionable one. Both performers cover the male and female
roles and, in some cases crossover, with the same characters. Ms. Merlington's and Mr. McLaren's dramatization of Beneico
Cortez in different parts of the book cause a disjointed feeling to the listener and at times, noticeable changes in tone
and pitch can be distracting.
Overall the story was a disappointment to anyone who has enjoyed Ms. Armstrong's previous work.